First Take: Gutsy Helen Thomas set journalistic example

Owen Ullmann

USA TODAY

She wasn%27t afraid to fire back at Margaret Thatcher

She asked the hardball questions at a time when reporters were more deferential

She broke numerous glass ceilings

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story misstated Thomas' history-making role at the White House Correspondents Association. She was the first female president of the group, which previously had admitted women.

As a reporter for the Associated Press in the 1980s, I had an occasional opportunity to work side by side with Helen Thomas, who was covering the White House for United Press International, one of AP's top competitors at the time.

One event that I will never forget occurred in 1981, when we covered a meeting of President Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at an economic summit in Ottawa, Canada. Helen shouted out a tough question to Thatcher about how her economic austerity policies were causing suffering among working-class Brits.

A clearly offended Thatcher, addressing Helen as "Dearie," dismissed the question as inappropriate for that forum.

"My, my, aren't we feeling our oats today," Helen retorted.

A taken-aback Thatcher turned to Reagan to ask, "Who is that woman?" Reagan replied with a grin, "Oh, that's Helen."

Yes, we all knew Helen as the tough reporter who would hurl the hardball questions at powerful politicians, setting an example for timid colleagues who felt intimidated about grilling powerful politicians before the eyes of the world. For me, that was her invaluable contribution to Washington journalism.

Nowadays, it is commonplace for White House reporters to ask tough questions of presidents. But back then, we were more deferential, and it took someone with guts to play the role of public watchdog, holding our elected leaders accountable. Helen Thomas filled that role admirably.

Indeed, Helen was a fighter throughout her career. She broke numerous glass ceilings to become the first woman to cover the White House, the first to break the all-male hold on the National Press Club, the first female president of the White House Correspondents Association. She understood that her job was not to be liked or popular but to expose political hypocrisy, question unpopular presidential policies and find out who was responsible for poor presidential decisions that affected millions.

Helen was a bipartisan gadfly. It didn't matter which party was in the White House. She would be just as unrelenting in her questioning of Democratic Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton as Republicans Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. And while none of them liked to be thrown on the defensive by her questions, there is no doubt they respected her integrity, independence and audacity to challenge the Leader of the Free World.

In truth, Helen had her biases. She championed the powerless: the poor, the unemployed, the voiceless victims of human rights abuses. And, as a Lebanese American, she had a blind spot for the Palestinian people. Indeed, she was forced to resign as a Hearst columnist in 2010 after making an anti-Israeli comment, "Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine."

I'd like to think that her pro-Palestinian bent was based on her instinct to defend the oppressed underdogs of the world, whoever they may be, and that she would have been just as vigorous in defending Israelis if their land had been occupied.

Despite that controversy, Helen's legacy cannot be denied. She blazed a trail by giving voice to those who could not speak to power. It is a gift that all journalists and the public at large can cherish.